


Catch

by sElkieNight60



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Bruce Wayne Acting as A Parent, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne's Barely Above Average Parenting, Canon Compliant, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Post DC Universe Rebirth Nightwing Vol. 1 'Better Than Batman', Se.N, bat dad, dad!bats, daddy bats, emotionally hurt dick grayson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-19 15:09:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22712743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sElkieNight60/pseuds/sElkieNight60
Summary: Set post DC Universe Rebirth Nightwing comic, Vol. 1 "Better than Batman."Raptor has Bruce in dire straits. Nightwing catches Bruce as he falls. Then it turns out Bruce never fell at all, he jumped."Dick. I didn't fall. I jumped. I jumped because I knew you'd catch me."Childhood trauma never truly goes away, it seems.OR, the emotional aftermath of "Better than Batman."
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 21
Kudos: 331
Collections: Bat Hugs, Dick & Bruce, everybody loves dick





	Catch

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [Catch/当你坠落](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23187448) by [SeatoNorth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeatoNorth/pseuds/SeatoNorth)



> Spoilers ahead if you haven't read the comic: In the DC Universe Rebirth Nightwing series, Vol. 1 “Better than Batman” Bruce is kidnapped as a civilian by a man going by the name Raptor who Dick figures out basically had the hots for Dick's mom and also hates rich people. Anyway, at the very end, Raptor has Bruce in a device which when the Wayne Tech stock prices hit 200mil or something, it's supposed to carve out his heart with a spoon and he's up really high so he can't escape. Well, (again, spoiler alert) Bruce is Batman, so he does manage to escape, but Dick does his whole spiel at the end where he says something along the lines of, “he was going to kill you and then you fell and it was all my fault” and Bruce was like, “I didn't fall, I jumped. Because I knew you'd catch me.” And Dick is, for some reason, fine with this??? So I was like, no, I think you'd have a bit more repressed trauma rising to the surface after your third parent was nearly killed and Bruce was putting all that pressure on Dick to catch him but like, what if Dick hadn't? Baby would have been walking PTSD if that happened.
> 
> And thus, this fic, which is a direct follow up to that final scene, was born. Because I was annoyed with how it ended. This also wasn't meant to go up until after I had finished 'Home' and is purely self-indulgent.
> 
> Enjoy!

The silent air is thick as syrup and live as a wire. They're both tired and on top of this, Dick can still feel the familiar, metallic tang of his own blood oozing out of tiny cuts in his mouth where his teeth were smashed into the sides of his face by Raptor's unforgiving right hook.

Bruce drives without glancing over once, but Dick can still somehow tell that the man is watching him. It's a six sense he thinks all Robin's must eventually garner, the ability to read Bruce without words. In spite of the blank, calm façade, he looks worried, possibly by Dick's own silence. Dick hasn't really said much since they left the abandoned circus site, after all, thoughnormally his family might say it would be a chore to get him to shut up, babbling away about nonsense and throwing backhanded quips around as easily as he does a batarang. Bruce doesn't know how to engage in normal person conversation though and he's even _worse_ at asking and addressing people problems, so nothing is said until they're pulling into the cave beneath the manor, at which point Dick mumbles something about needing a shower and stumbles woozily out of the car and away from Bruce.

Dick's not sure if Bruce is aware of the wayward hand that reaches out in his direction after closing the door of the Batmobile, but _he_ is. Keenly. Bruce isn't completely bereft of emotional understanding, even if it sure feels like it sometimes, he can tell that something is wrong―he just can't figure out what.

Dick wanders off and tries his hardest to ignore the faint worry lines creeping onto his father's face, though they poke holes of guilt in his stomach. He just… needs a minute to regain his composure, reorient himself and find it within himself to plaster a smile back on his face.

The memory of Bruce falling plays on repeat every time he so much as blinks.

Dick strips, huffing silently as he turns on the shower before slamming the pads of his palms against his eyes, hoping that the sound of the running water will be enough to muffle the few sobs that do escape.

Bruce's words ring in his head mercilessly.

“ _Dick. I didn't fall. I jumped. I jumped because I knew you'd catch me.”_

Dick has to restrain himself from colouring his knuckles in their own blood; he so desperately wants to punch the shower wall. There's no denying the fresh material for the nightmares he will undoubtedly have for the next few months.

What right did Bruce have to expect that of him?

He stands there for a long time under the spray, the hot water soothing his sore muscles, head bowed and hands splayed against the tiling as he forces himself to get his breathing under control. He stays until the water starts to run cold. Haphazardly, Dick scrubs the blood off his face and quickly brushes his teeth to rid himself of the iron taste before shutting off the shower and allowing the cool cave air to caress his skin. Naked and exposed he shivers, but takes a few more steadying breaths before he deems himself fortified enough to dress and head upstairs to bed.

Dick isn't expecting to see Bruce sitting on the floor outside the showers, still dressed head to toe in the same business suit he wore to the press conference earlier that same day. It catches him by surprise.

“Bruce?” he questions, snatching up a towel and wrapping it around his waist.

The man glances up, his legs drawn up and his arms resting atop his knees. The back of his head rests upon the wall as his eyes assess and scrutinise Dick from this position.

“Better?” he asks with the faintest twitch of his lips, answering a question with a question. There's something sad in his expression though, something Dick isn't sure he can take on the emotional burden of right now, so he doesn't ask.

“Yeah,” he says instead, diverting his eyes anywhere else. His voice is surprisingly steady, he just hopes he looks as composed as he sounds. “Hot showers do wonders.”

Dick sends the man a flash of his toothiest smile, the one he used to give when he was Robin. The one he uses when he's feeling insecure and needs to put up some kind of front to reassure everybody that he's fine, _he's doing just fine_.

Bruce picks himself up off the floor with a frown and thin lips pressed tightly together, dusting non-existent dust away from his trousers as he rises to his full height. Hands go on hips and the frown deepens, Dick silently curses at the universe for never allowing him to grow taller than his mentor. Maybe if he was Jason's size he wouldn't always feel like that frightened little kid Bruce took in, always looking up, always looking for reassurance and someone to tell him _good job_.

Bruce walks over quietly, dress shoes resounding against the floor of the cave. Dick purposefully doesn't look at the man as a weighty hand comes down upon his shoulder, Bruce's way of pinning his children in place and holding them there until whatever he wants to say has been said.

Along with his other hand, a thumb comes up and runs under his eye before any words are spoken, startling Dick into accidentally making eye contact. Bruce is being so gentle. After the hard words and harsher expectations of the past few months, it's weirder than Dick thinks it probably should be. _This_ is the Bruce that used to rock him to sleep after a nightmare, the one that used to openly laugh at his stupid puns on patrol. _This_ is the Bruce that raised him, this is his _dad._ It's just been so long since Dick has truly seen him.

The gaze looking back at him is soft and sympathetic and oddly patient, all things that Batman is not.

“Your eyes are all red,” he says, not accusatory, merely an observation followed by a statement of fact. “You've been crying. I heard you.”

Dick doesn't deny it. Just huffs out a mirthless, watery laugh. “It's been a long, stressful day,” he answers. “Catharsis, I guess.”

Bruce doesn't move, although his gaze narrows infinitesimally. The grip on Dick's shoulder maybe tightens too.

“It's more than that,” he deduces after a beat, and Dick once more diverts his eyes in order to avoid the piercing, scrupulous stare boring down on him.

“It's nothing really,” he replies, shrugging Bruce's hand off his shoulder. “I'll get over it, I'm just being over-sensitive. Been through worse.”

Apparently this is the wrong thing to say, because it doesn't seem to alleviate Bruce's worry so much as it compounds it.

“Talk to me,” he says, that deep gravel somehow gentle. Bruce shucks his work jacket and places it over Dick's shivering shoulders, steering him towards the bench at the other end of the showers.

“There's nothing to say, B,” he sighs. “Really.”

Some part of him is immensely grateful for the quirked, disbelieving eyebrow he receives. Another part is just pissed off.

“You never were the best liar,” is the reply he gets, amusement lurking within the tone. Dick thinks that's unfair given how long he was with Spyral. Bruce seems to momentarily consider this as well and amends, “Not in this family, at least. Not with me.”

Dick expels all the air in his lungs and squeezes his eyes closed, sagging in on himself as Bruce's arm comes up to rest upon his shoulders, hand methodically rubbing his arm over the suit jacket.

It turns out, Dick's not completely dry of tears, even if he feels remorse and shame in loosing them in front of his mentor and father. Apology after apology trips off his tongue. He knows Bruce isn't good with tears, or really any kind of emotion that requires depth. That's Dick's forte. But he struggles to stop their flow nonetheless.

Bruce hushes him as he tugs Dick against his chest, bringing Dick's head and dark locks underneath his chin as he mutters nonsense words about how everything is okay now.

Everything is _not_ okay. Everything hasn't been okay for a long time now. Useless platitudes will do nothing to fix that.

Dick finally breaks.

“How… how could you do that to me, B?” He gets out between sobs, volume only growing louder as he heaves in stuttering, gulping breaths. Even he can admit to himself that he sounds wrecked, god only knows what Bruce thinks of him right now. “How could you just… jump?”

Dick feels Bruce flinch more than he sees it from his position, but he withdraws to himself, pulling away from his mentor to better read the man's ordinarily guarded reactions―though they don't seem awfully guarded at the moment.

“I told you, Dick,” he says softly after a second of recouping, as though speaking to a small child. In lieu of holding Dick hostage against his chest, a kind of one-armed, awkward hug, Bruce takes his hands in his grip instead. “I jumped because I knew you would catch me.”

It's all he can do not to sharply withdraw his hands and tug out his hair for all he wants to slap Bruce across his face.

“But what if I _didn't?!”_ He hisses, sounding desperate, imploring for an answer. “What if you fell and I didn't catch you in time!?”

Something strikes Bruce then. It is as plain as the sound of a hammer upon an anvil and he has the good sense to look guilty as he realises, finally, what Dick is both asking and accusing him of.

“Dick…” he begins, opening his mouth then closing it again and repeating once more before swallowing and clearing his throat. “Dick I… I must apologise.”

The tears drop heavily from his chin to his lap as Dick shakes his head. “Damn right you need to, you bastard!”

Bruce doesn't chastise. He sighs and accepts it, then brings Dick in once more against his chest and this time, Dick goes easily. He reaches around Bruce's middle and clings to him like he used to do as a child, back when he still thought Bruce might one day discard him if he ever grew bored of Robin or Dick or both. It was the only way he could be sure never to get left behind. It still kind of feels like that now.

“I'm sorry, Dick,” Bruce whispers into his hair. He can feel the faint breath tickling across the ends of his wet, limp locks. “I didn't think… I just wasn't thinking.”

“Don't take risks like that,” Dick begs, holding Bruce tighter. “Please. _Please_ , I can't lose you again. Most especially like _that_.”

Bruce kisses the top of his head.

“No more unnecessary risks,” he says solemnly. “I swear it.”

Dick nods against his chest, but doesn't say anything. He's making Bruce's white shirt wet, he knows, but he can't find it within himself to care about that right now. Bruce doesn't hurry him, either. They sit there together for a long time in the end, up until the point that Dick's hair is more damp than wet, at which point he sneezes and Bruce suddenly seems to remember that he is sitting there in nothing more than a towel and a dinner jacket two sizes too big.

“Come on,” he begins anew, patting Dick's back gently and sounding younger than Dick has heard him in maybe a decade. “Let's get you changed and then I'm sure when we get upstairs Alfred will be happy to make us those hot chocolates with the good marshmallows that you like.”

If he doesn't think too deeply about, Dick can almost imagine he's Robin again as Bruce speaks.

“Yeah,” he says finally, releasing Bruce from his hold. “That… that would be good.”

The smile he gets in return eases something painful in his chest. It doesn't go away completely, but it's enough for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos if you liked this work! Also, if you want to make a new friend, come chat with me at either [Tumblr](https://selkienight60.tumblr.com/) or the [Batfamily 18+ Discord](https://discord.gg/MfRT6HVvJw) if you are over 18 years of age! We are all very friendly and chill.


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